All you need is Love
by Pink Moogle
Summary: AU Rinoa is dead set against war. As she attempts to join the rebellion, a mysterious character continues to appear. Ignorance and nativity leads her into friendships, hardships, tragedies, and romance with a man who represents everything she's opposed to
1. black bird fly

**A/N: **Hey there! Pink Moogle here. So here's the thing: I noticed AU fan fictions (at least for FFVIII) tend to produce more fans than just stories based off the game. So, I decided I should take a crack at writing one. My first idea was, of course, a school setting, since FFVIII just beckons that, but after seeing the incredible film _Across the Universe_, I reconsidered.

So this is it in a nut shell: The characters of Final Fantasy VIII are set in a 60s-like time period (not technology wise, though) in reference to the world that they live in. It's just their world influenced by common themes of the 60's: Free-love, peace, rebellion, war, "hippies", change, etc.

Yet alas, I am of a mere fifteen years of age, so I've never seen the 60's my self. This story was inspired by _Across the Universe_, which was inspired by the Beatles, and they were inspired by the 60's (and a series of good drugs, of course!). So transitively, I'm writing about a time period I lived through. :D

**Disclaimer:** Someday I will own Final Fantasy VIII and any of its characters, and I'm telling you, SquareEnix, you will rue that day. Unfortunately, right now I do not own it, and so, I must stick a disclaimer in here. D:

Also, some titles (including the title "All you need is Love"), names of OCs, dialogue, etc are in reference to the Beatles's music and/or the movie _Across the Universe_. Don't worry-- even if you have never heard a Beatles song (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?) or seen _Across the Universe _(YOU SHOULD.), you'll still pretty much get it.

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_All you need is Love_

-chapter 1 : Black Bird Fly-

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**HER HAND** was firmly gripping the drop knob; frozen, not from insecurity, though. Her father had wakened, and his watchful gaze could halt a bus, nonetheless a hand. He wanted her to turn around and call him "father" again, she was sure, but she was determined to do neither. But he had caught her leaving; for that she at least owed it to him to listen.

"Rinoa?" He said in a strict, near interrogating tone. "What do you think you are doing?"

She was going to answer, but instead, she bit her lip. Silence remained. The job was his to break it.

Her father scrutinized the large duffle bag slung over her shoulder. "Are you leaving?"

_What a stupid question_, she thought. _No, I'm standing in front of the door with all my possessions because I'm sleeping outside. Uh duh, I'm leaving. _

"You know very well you _can't_."

His daughter gritted her teeth. The rebellious fire burning within her flared up in recoil. She could never accept being told what she could or could not do.

"You mean, I _may not_," Rinoa pointed out in a condescending fashion, still facing the door. "I do not have your permission, but I have the ability to. So, I _can_."

With her delicate, pale fingers massaging the cold metal handle, she paused. She heard her father shift; maybe he was going to say something. It did not matter. She would not give him that courtesy.

"--And I _will_."

Turning the knob and pushing wood simultaneously, the door flung open into the frigid midnight air. Before she could follow it, though, she felt her father grab her shoulder. It was not a particularly threatening grip. It was just tough enough to stop her for a moment without doing any harm. It was the hold of a father, or rather, a man attempting to be one.

"Rinoa, you have no where to go." He stated in near desperation; she was eighteen as of this day. She could go if she wished. "It's dangerous out there. I don't want to lose my only child. There is a war going on—"

"Yeah, well, whose fault is that!" She irrupted, finally starring at her father straight in his oh-so very guilty face. Rinoa fiercely grabbed his hand and yanked it off her shoulder with the full force of her peaceful passion. It fell limply to his side. There was nothing the general could do.

Satisfied, she took her first few steps of freedom from her father's fascist grasp. No longer would she be associated with a man who was supporting such violence; the man who single handedly gave the order to have Galbadian soldiers invade Esthar. They were helping with the civil war, he said. _Yeah, right._

Behind her, the snow crunched, but she defiantly continued to walk further and further away from her father's Windhill mansion. He called after her:

"Rinoa, where are you going?"

No answer.

"Can't we talk about this?"

No answer.

"What are you going to do? You'll never survive out there alone."

Still trotting along, she actually spoke back this time, mostly in annoyance of his shameless cries.

"I'll get by with a little help from my friends." Rinoa snapped.

A few more feet; the calls halted. Yards away; the door slammed. He had given up on her, she believed, and pride now laced Rinoa's steps. With every single one of them, she was closer to returning to Deling, and becoming like people who drove her and her father out of that city.

That was, of course, the Radicals. Sure, they had put both her and her father in danger after the war began, but she had aspired to be them since she was sixteen: So strong, so rebellious, so… Well, radical. Besides, it wasn't the faction's fault that they had pushed them to hiding—it was the general's fault for starting this pointless war. Or at least, that was what Rinoa believed.

So many years she had waited for just this one moment, brief fading second, of freedom. In the coming days, she would spread her wings that had been long broken by her damn father's war-ful fist, and fly far, far away, back to the major city she once called home.

Rinoa reached the main road of the backwards hick-town that she loathed so much. Maybe three cars went through everyday, so hitch-hiking to Deling was not going to be easy, or, at the least, quick. Once she would get there, one way or another, she _would _get by with a little help from her friends. They suggested she flee when the general first decided to go escape the "big city of rebels", and when she was finally going to do it, they offered to put her up. That is, as long as she would join the movement.

Rinoa sighed and sat on the top rung of a sturdy timber fence. "Once I get there…" She whispered to herself, emitting gray frozen breath from her throat in the process, "Everything will change. I'll help change the world. I know it… I know it…"

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Within the first few minutes of March 3rd, somewhere, not far away, a salt-and-pepper-haired man stood at a window, his sad eyes losing the only other important woman of his life into the light of the dark black night. There, he could not close her into his walls. She thought he did it to trap her, but Caraway knew otherwise: He did it solely to protect her, but wound up smothering and chasing her away in the process.

He cringed at the thought of losing her. A strong man he was, but she was the face of his deceased wife, and also, a promise to her. Some how, some way, he needed to watch over his precious daughter; he owed it not to himself, or even to Rinoa, but he owed it to his spouse, and for that, he would do anything.

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To her surprise, a pair of headlights appeared in the distance a lot sooner then expected. She pushed back her long sleeves and inspected her watch.

"One a.m.? Since when…? Oh well, don't argue…" Although a bit shocked, Rinoa stood and stuck her thumb out. The car was moving incredibly slowly, which Rinoa presumed was the driver's concern for the time. As it approached, there was little she could tell with no street lights; only that it was a gray car with headlights, and an awfully foggy windshield. There was something particularly peculiar about this dull gray vehicle, though, that she noticed when it pulled over a few feet from her: No plates.

Despite her better judgment, Rinoa opened the back door and threw in her bag, and followed suit by sliding in her body. After slamming the heavy car door shut, she greeted her kind chauffeur.

"Hey there." She said as the person began to continue down the road. "I'm Rinoa. Kind of late to be driving around this ghost town, isn't it?"

No answer. Instead, the stranger brushed off her question by answering it with another one, in his apparently extremely male voice. "Where are you headed?"

Rinoa was a bit taken aback by his monotone, but unlike him, she actually countered inquiries she was asked. "Deling City."

Only a slight grunt was murmured in response, which Rinoa translated as "I'm heading in that direction".

"So…" The young woman shifted uncomfortably in the quiet. "…What's your name?"

The car sped up when they finally exited Windhill and reached the barren Galbadian country-side. They were a long way from Deling, and if discussion kept being so utterly dry, it would probably be the most tedious hours of her life. It seemed like the man was thinking about his reply, either that or he was just going to not give one once more.

"Skelter." He finally confessed.

"Skelter?" Rinoa blinked. "That's a weird name."

She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard Skelter whisper the words _'You have no idea.'_

Hush resumed. It seemed as though conversation with Skelter was like playing ping-pong with someone who was horrible at it: It was pointless, since the ball word inevitably never go back and forth, which in such a game, it should; it would go flying off the table, or into some bodies head or hit the net or something, but never really would be played in such a case.

…But Ping-pong, nevertheless, was fun.

"Going to Deling, huh?"

"Yeah." He sounded as though he was growing impatient with her already.

Rinoa was determined to keep the thread alive. "I'm going to fight for the cause—Why are you going?"

She expected for him to dodge those last few words, but he did not.

Skelter was quite obviously fed up with her talkativeness. "Same, I guess."

She was flabbergasted. _A boring guy like this, a radical?_ "Really?"

She saw a pair of shoulders shrug. "Everyone has a cause." _Must he be so vague?_ Rinoa mused.

"Well yeah but…" She tried to look for better words, but ended up putting it bluntly. "What's your cause?"

"To have a cause." His tone led her to believe he said it in hopes she would shut-up.

Rinoa smirked, but retained her laughter. This guy was damn good at evading questions. Dubbing it a lost cause, Rinoa decided to make another statement.

"Today is my birthday." It was all she could think to say, as she absently looked out the window, watching the endlessly bare landscape fly by. She decided Skelter was at least a tad more interesting than that, and looked forward into his rear view mirror.

"Really?" He did not sound the least bit interested, but his actions said other wise, as he looked into his mirror also, and matched eyes with his passenger momentarily before looking away. She couldn't help but notice that his eyes were an enchanting shade of blue and gray, and somewhat reminiscent to a kaleidoscope. "Happy birthday, then." He nearly mumbled it.

_Jeez, could you be a little less enthusiastic? _"Yeah. I'm eighteen today." As she predicted, he did not retort with his age, and instead, the conversation died off once more. At long last, she decided to resign from her effort.

Quite awhile passed, and Rinoa possibly drifted off, but was wakened with shock when boring ol' Skelter actually _said something_ without being prompted first.

"I'm sure you have been told this before but…" Rinoa spotted him starring at her through his rear view yet again. "…You look a lot like Julia Heartilly." Spoken in a dull fashion once more, unfortunately.

"Yeah, well, aren't daughters _supposed_ to resemble their mothers?" This time, he was the one stunned, which subsequently stunned her. She caught sight of his eyebrow slightly higher than normal in his mirror. "Why, are you a fan?"

"…You could say that." And there he went, back to vague and lackluster. Another lengthy pause later, Skelter said something else: "That would make you the general's daughter, correct?" This time, he did in fact sound slightly interested, but Rinoa failed to notice.

It irritated her to no end that whenever she revealed her background, people immediately related her to that despicable man. "Yeah, just don't hate me for it, ok? Just because he started this damn war doesn't mean I support it."

"…Whatever." Many minutes passed without anything further.

Rinoa jumped when he actually completed his thought. "A father's accomplishments should never reflect on the accomplishments on a child to the point it over shadows." Her jaw dropped. He actually _broke_ his monotone and said something…_Deep?_

"I totally agree!" She wanted to jump up of her seat in passionate sharing of the thought. _Maybe there _is _something more to this guy…_ "You write that yourself Skelter?"

"…"

And with that, she lost him again, and her smile, invisible in the darkness of the car, faded back into her cheeks.

After that, she could recall asking, or commenting upon, some superficial things, such as the weather in Windhill. To this, Skelter rarely responded. At some point, she looked out the window for a while, and must've dozed off, since sometime later, a bump in the road found her drooling on the upholstery of Skelter's car.

Rinoa drowsily wiped her eyes, and let Skelter know she was awake by emitting a loud, obnoxiously fake yawn. She was aware he probably didn't even notice she was asleep, though.

Not desiring to be found in that position when they did arrive, Rinoa started up a conversation again to pass the time.

"So Skelter…" She stretched as she said this, "What do you, you know… _do_?

He didn't answer.

Desperate for interaction? "Common, I'm bored, lie to me if you have to…" Yes, yes she was. "What's your job or whatever?"

Skelter said nothing.

"If you're that uncomfortable saying what it_ is_, at least tell me what you _do._"

"Get out of the car."

Was he just going to leave her out there in the middle of nowhere? "Wait…What? …What did I say?"

He shook his head, and she realized that she could she that. _Streetlights?_ "No, we're in Deling now. Can you find your way from the parking garage?"

_Has it really been that long?_ In the same way she did previously, Rinoa checked her watch again to find it read 4:18 am. _Huh, maybe I fell asleep longer than I realized…_

Rinoa giggled and bushed slightly. "Ha… I can't believe I didn't realize. Sorry about that. But yeah, I can." Reaching over, Rinoa grabbed the door handle. She jiggled, and tugged at it. Pulled, pushed, fought, gnawed, and played with it. She did everything short of kicking the door, which she would have done, that is, if Skelter hadn't said anything.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, kinda…" She said with a laugh, "Your door won't open, Skelter."

"Wait, what…? Why wouldn't it…" Apparently, the baffling Skelter had a revelation and snapped his fingers in response to this. "Sorry, I left the child lock on."

As Skelter opened the door adjacent to the driver's seat, Rinoa perplexed on why the hell he would have the child lock on, and wondered if he had kids. It was at that moment she realized she had yet to see her driver's face. _Guess I will now…_

Skelter approached the door, and opened it while Rinoa gathered her coat and bags, but when she turned to go out, she immediately regretted doing so. For at the sight of Skelter, she dropped it all in reflex of awe.


	2. helterskelter

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_All you need is Love_

-chapter 2 : HelterSkelter-

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**RINOA HAD** expected Skelter to be as boring physically as he was vocally. Her metal image had portrayed him as a middle-aged business-looking man with a nine-to-five job, a family, and a rapidly receding hairline, with not a single interesting feature aside his eyes. As he stood in front of her, though, looking quite annoyed and apathetic, she could not even move stuck in the fact that he contrasted that so much.

He was not extremely tall; just a normal height of a man, but within that approximately five and a half feet, was a toned, muscular body that donned some strange garb. The first thing she noticed was a short black leather jacket with a puffy furry collar that she prayed has faux. That jacket was worn over-top of an over-worn off-white tee-shirt. Hanging from Skelter's neck was a long heavy-metal piece of jewelry in the shape of a lion's head that landed close to the end of his torso. For some reason, he wore not one, _but two_ crisscrossed belts on top of a causal pair of dark gray jeans. Sticking out of his bugling right pant's pocket was a pair of what she presumed was leather driving gloves.

Skelter's long, chestnut-colored hair fell right above his shoulders, looking long uncut, and ultimately finishing off his face's unkempt appearance along with the stubble dotting the lower portion of it. His bangs covered over most his forehead, but through the hair; Rinoa could see a strange scar crossing his masculine face between his incredible eyes.

Possibly the most striking thing about this seemingly soulless, though attractive, man was that he was _young, _and not that balding forty-year old she thought he would be. In fact, he couldn't be much older than her self. 

"…Are you going to get out of my car?" Skelter inquired as he bent down to pick up the items she had dropped. 

At this moment, Rinoa was certain she looked endlessly flustered and embarrassed with her face feeling quite red out of humility. Whispering an inaudible "sorry", she exited the automobile and took her stuff from Skelter.

"Thank you for the ride and all…" She said, avoiding his gaze. She couldn't make eye contact with him now! 

As the young women started to slowly saunter through the garage, she was dumbfounded to hear that emotionless man call after her. "Rinoa." He rang out, addressing her for the first time. She turned on her heel. "Are you going to be alright?"

That statement sounded more exasperated than concerned, as if it was his duty instead of choice to ask her. In response, Rinoa held up a finger to signify one minute, and then dove into her purse.

She quickly withdrew her cell phone and typed in a series of numbers to contact her soon-to-be home. Turning around and then walking a few steps forward, she put the receiver to her ear with one hand, and crossed her fingers with the other.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings. 

"Common,_ please_ be awake!" 

Four rings.

Five rings.

_Click…_

"Yes!"

…Answering machine. "Dammit!"

Rinoa heavily sighed and made the decision to leave a message.

"Hey Watts. Zone. All you Radicals." She felt a tad nervous addressing them. "It's Rinoa. Don't ask how, but I got to Deling. Call me when you wake up or get back or whatever, alright? Later. Peace out!" Rinoa immediately felt foolish after uttering the last two words and slammed her phone shut. 

_Now what?_ She wondered. _I can't just wander around here until dawn, and I don't think they would appreciate me breaking in this early…_

Well, there was _one _alternative. 

"Skelter?" She said in a low voice. When he did not answer, she turned to see he was not behind her, but rather sitting on the hood of his car… With a cigarette.

_Ew. Gross. _

Despite her objection to this self destructive habit, she walked to the young man and repeated his name. "Skelter?" He did not respond, but she knew he heard her. "The people I'm going to stay with… They're asleep and can't let me in…"

Skelter took a long drag, blew out smoke, and then replied coolly without looking up. "You shouldn't rely on people. They'll always betray you in the end."

Rinoa crinkled her nose at both his wonderful theory on life, and the smell of the fumes. "Anyway… Do you mind hanging out with me for a few more hours?" The sound of a cop car going by echoed outside through the garage. She then added, "I really don't think I should be out there…You know, alone."

Skelter said nothing. He breathed in, sighed out, and then dropped the cancerous-stick. He briefly crushed it into the ground with his black "commando" boots, and wrapped around the left side of his car. Rinoa watched confused as he opened the driver's door and shot her a peeved glower. 

"Are you coming?" 

"Oh! Yeah. Thanks." Once more mortified, Rinoa power-walked to the right side and shoved herself into the passenger seat beside Skelter. This was the closet he had been to him thus far. _You know, _she mused, _I don't know what a 'Skelter' is supposed to look like, but he sure doesn't. _

In one fluid motion, Skelter pushed in and turned the key held in the ignition, and began pulling out of the spot. Rinoa could not read it, but there appeared to be some sort of key-card with a strange black and white insignia on it latched onto his key ring. At this moment, she also noticed that the parking lot was completely empty; a rare occurrence in Deling, especially during the morning rush hour. 

As they exited, the black-haired women watched the passing streets. It was still dark, but with the streetlights above them, she could now discern figures lurking in the early morning hours. She spotted a woman in lewd clothing starring at Skelter's car as he passed, and a man in a hood leaning against a wall. There were some people standing in tiny groups, and she swore she spotted the glint of a blade. After all her years of living in the city, she had _never_ been to this part of town.

"I fight." Skelter suddenly admitted. Rinoa furrowed her brow and prepared to say something along the lines of _'Huh?'_, but he must have predicted this. "That's what I do. I fight."

"Are you always so unclear or you do you just enjoy confusing me?" Her hand flew up to mouth as soon as she said it, realizing how rude she was being to the man that was wasting his time on her. "Sorry, I didn't mean that…"

"…" He kept his expressionless eyes on the road. "…You don't have to apologize. I know I'm cold."

Skelter's words stung and Rinoa suddenly felt incredibly guilty. Unsure of what to say, she kept quiet for awhile, but when they pulled into the parking lot of the Downtown Deling Diner, she spoke up. 

"I've never been here before…"

"I'm not surprised." He stated flatly. Skelter purposely ignored Rinoa's baffled and slightly insulted expression, and turned off the car after parking. Wordlessly, he got out, and Rinoa followed suit, now quite irritated at this man. How was it he could feel so comfortable frustrating her when they didn't even know each other?

Surprisingly, he held the door for her, proving he had at least an ounce of gentlemen-ity within him. 

It was not a dirty place—Not as fancy as most Restaurants in Deling, sure, but it was homey. Along the wall that held the door was a series of about twenty booths with white tables and blue cushions pushed up against obviously old windows. The opposite wall had a refrigerator, a blackboard with the day's specials, menus, coffee machines and other staples to be expected at a diner. Connected to this wall was a long blue counter lined with bar stools, and dotted with table settings for the very few customers in the place. The floor was tiled with a vintage black and white square pattern that was cracked and discolored in some areas. 

Skelter, ostensibly familiar with this place, removed his jacket and placed it on a nearby coat rack. He reached out his hand and offered to do the same for Rinoa's, and she accepted, handing over her well-made, expensive coat. He then shuffled over to the nearest booth, sliding into the right side, and Rinoa took the left. 

Seemingly uninterested, Skelter starred rather blankly out the window into the streets. Rinoa, on the other hand, could not stop gaping at his huge, budging arm muscles that were now uncovered without his jacket. She was surprised his sleeve hadn't ripped.

"Hey Skelter, do you work out?" She quipped, of course regretting it instantly. She felt pink over rule her usually pale features; she did not mean to ask that question, it just sort of…popped out. Luckily, before he could answer, their waitress arrived.

"Hey there, I'm Sadie," The curly haired woman said as she placed the menus on the table, "I'll be serving ya'll this morn—Ah, hey!"

Skelter looked over at Sadie and nodded.

"Long time no see." She smiled at him. "Is this your girlfriend?"

Rinoa was no longer pink, but rather a strawberry red at this point. 

"No." He announced firmly. "She's just a hitch hiker."

"Mhm…" Sadie hummed, looking away from the evident regular and to Rinoa. Sadie winked, and Rinoa cocked her head slightly. "What's your name, hun?"

"I'm Rinoa… Is Skelter always this way?" She replied playfully, trying to break her streak of meekness. Skelter did not react, but Sadie laughed.

"Skelter?" She glanced over at him, and he glared at his friend with daggers. "Haha, Sweetie, don't let 'Helter Skelter' here sweep you off your feet." Rinoa was confused for what appeared to be the millionth time that day, and it was only five am. "He may be a lover, but he ain't no dancer." Sadie half-said, half-sang. 

Now her "date" looked a tad furious for reasons Rinoa did not understand. All the while, Sadie was cracking up laughing. Skelter cleared his throat to show his impatience. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sadie retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "What would you like to drink?"

"Coffee." Skelter countered without a second thought. 

"Haven't you ever heard of ladies first, 'Skelter'? _Rinoa_, what would _you_ like to drink?"

Rinoa fumbled with her menu and read over the drink section. "Umm… I… Uhh… Orange juice, I guess."

"Orange juice…" Sadie repeat slowly as she leisurely copied the words into her notebook, clearly doing it for Skelter's benefit. "Now, _'Skelter'_, what would _you_ like?"

He heaved a sigh and repeated himself, "Coffee."

Sadie grinned and walked away, once again winking at Rinoa. Skelter glanced over the menu, his face returning to its previous blank state. 

"I'll take care of this, just so you know." It was the last thing Rinoa expected him to say, which is probably why he said it.

"I have money on me I can—"

"No, I'll take care of it, alright?" He had said that very seriously, almost like he was demanding it. Rinoa was taken aback and did not reply. Skelter sighed (something which he did a lot, in Rinoa's opinion). 

"Look, it's your Birthday… Think of it as a Birthday Breakfast—my gift to you. Just…do the same for me when it's my birthday, ok?" Without lifting his gaze from his menu, he preformed a strange sweeping hand gesture, most likely to symbolize he was kidding.

She nodded. "And when is that?"

"August twenty-third."

It was the first question he had answered directly, and Rinoa couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe he was loosening up? 

Sadie promptly returned with their drinks. "You love birds know what you want?"

Rinoa could almost see Skelter's metal door slamming shut again with Sadie's statement possibly making him self conscious. Before this waitress could mock him more, Rinoa submitted her order. 

"I'll have some strawberry pancakes, please." 

Sadie concurred, and then turned to Skelter. 

"A Cheeseburger…" Sadie grimaced. "French fries, onion rings, and a salad on the side."

"And how would you like that?"

"Preferably without spit." Rinoa smirked. She wondered how Skelter could keep a straight face saying that.

Sadie stuck her tongue out at him, and ripped his menu out of his hands. Rinoa handed hers off, and the cheeky waitress stomped away. 

"Can you really eat like this at this time of day?" Rinoa whispered.

"No, just making Sadie's life harder for her." He proclaimed quite loudly in Sadie's earshot. The birthday girl attempted to smile warmly at him, but he crooked his eyes away; back to the window. This guy was impossible.

Lost for conversation, Rinoa focused on her utensils, toying with the fork that included in her setting. Through her peripheral vision, she noted that Skelter appeared quite distant and pensive; almost as if he was off on his own world, million of miles away. She had half the mind to stab him with her fork, but instead, distracted him with yet another query.

"What's the scar from?" She took a sip from her juice and awaited Skelter to return from his planet.

"What's it to you?" He answered arrogantly. Rinoa was preparing to _really _stabhim this time, when his eyebrows flew up. Without explanation, he unsheathed his cell phone and got up from the table, scowling at the screen on the front of it. It vibrated. "I have to take this…" He disclosed, and walked out the door. 

Sadie seized the opportunity and appeared suddenly in Skelter's seat. Rinoa, though, did not acknowledge this and frowned at the confusing individual through the window. 

"What is his problem?" Rinoa plead. "One minute, he's cracking jokes, the next, he's cold as ice."

Sadie shrugged. "That's Squ—" The waitress caught her own words "—Skelter for you. He's always like that. But… He likes you."

"What? …He does not." 

"Has he said more than three words to you?"

"Well, yeah but— "

"Then he _likes_ you." Sadie Teased. "Me? I've known him forever, so he really has no choice up to put up with me." She let loose a hearty laugh. "Actually, I've never seen him act so human to another person before."

"…You call that human?" Puzzled again, she was. "But what's his story, anyway? He refuses to tell me anything about himself."

Sadie grinned as though she was superior to Rinoa; as if she knew something she did not. The older woman's eyes glazed over Rinoa's outfit: a long tie-dyed shirt, a peace sign necklace, a flower clip (In order to impress the Radicals, Rin had put together her most 'peaceful' clothing). "Oh, he has his reasons."

**--------**

Outside, Skelter nodded his head to the voice over the phone.

"I see…" He said into the receiver. "Alright, so you've already contacting them. You understand then…?" 

Skelter was, unbeknownst to his breakfast guest, taking a business call. 

He made an affirmative gesture to the communication device again, and snuck a glance inside the pane that was adjacent to his seat inside. 

"Very naïve." Whatever the other person had said, Skelter agreed. "I understand, sir. …It's my job."

With nothing more, Skelter flipped his phone into the folded up position and slipped it into his pocket, replacing the phone with instead a cigarette. 

------

Sadie clicked her tongue as she watched Skelter with Rinoa through the glass. "He's started smoking? Not good, not good." She shook her head back and forth in disapproval.

Facing forward once more, Sadie decided she wanted to make Rinoa's face red again. "So, do you like him?"

She succeeded. "Well, he's undeniably attractive, but his thoughts are… I don't know, just not 'there'. He's not interesting in the least." She shrugged after noticing Sadie's face, which seemed to disagree. "I don't know. There's no passion there."

"Shame. He could use girl like you. Maybe open him up a little." Having the last word, Sadie returned to the kitchen, and rightfully so, as Skelter returned. 

Rinoa instantly coughed when he slid in, smelling of tobacco. Strangely enough, now, he seemed the least bit interested in the current situation, and actually started talking to her this time.

"Where are you going to stay?" His guest coughed on her orange juice when he actually cared.

"Umm…This place on Main Street. One of the townhouses there. I don't know the address off the top of my head… I have it written down on a paper in my bag. Some of my friends are putting me up… But what's it to you?" She announced mockingly.

He countered with a statement that automatically made her feel stupid. "I'm driving you there, aren't I?"

She looked down at her fork again. _To stab or not to stab? _

Skelter's inevitable arm stabbing was, luckily for him, interrupted my Sadie, who returned with there food before Rinoa could jab the pointy piece of silverware. Despite his order, Sadie had brought Skelter the same thing as Rinoa, a fact that Skelter seemed to noticed and briefly glared at Sadie for. 

Their meal continued with no conversation. For the remainder of it, Rinoa's eyes traced the shadowy figures gracing the night air outside the diner between bites. In the alley across the street, a more innocent-looking woman in a dress-suit stalked past it in vain, as the gang members she's was quite obviously attempting to avoid, noticed her and surrounded. Skelter also seemed to notice this.

The men inched in closer to this woman, and she appeared frightened. Now her back was to the wall; neither of the duo within the building could see the lady, but both were pretty sure of what was happening. 

Rinoa turned to Skelter with a look of worry, now realizing that that was why she had never been here: It was the_ bad _part of town. Skelter wordlessly jumped out of his seat, and the next thing Rinoa heard was the Deling Diner's door slamming behind him.

**--------**

**A/N: **Yes, _Kamina88_, you were indeed correct, as it should become blaringly obvious in this chapter. Part of me wanted to keep Skelter's identity a secret to you guys, but I didn't want anyone to presume he was an OC, either. So far, the only foreseeable OCs are Sadie, and maybe a couple of others. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews. :D Keep em' coming! I really like writing this… AUs are so fun. Hope you guys appreciate the fairly quick update and decent sized chapter.

_- Pink Moogle _


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